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The last few months have been largely uneventful.

• Beginning of June I broke my left ankle in three places, when I slipped on someones slipped drink at a friend’s birthday party.
• I have spent the summer months at home, due to the broken ankle, following the American Presidential election primaries, first supporting Hilary Clinton and now Barack Obama.
• Russia and Georgia have been at war. There is widespread discord as to who attacked whom and what caused the whole pandemonium. Russia said it intervened in South Ossetia and another Georgian breakaway region because Georgia had attacked there resident Russian Nationals, while many other nations have condemned the Russian activities. Both sides have bombed the place back to the stone-age. Civilans were once again the ones suffering the most.
• Meanwhile the Olympic Games took place in China, mainly in Beijing. I have followed many of the games, watched the opening and closing ceremony and was very impressed. The next Olympic Games in London in 2012 will have very high expectations to meet. In the words of London’s Mayor Boris: Ping Pong is coming home.
• I have in the last few weeks begun to walk again and I am getting better, so things are definitely looking up.
• On the same day I booked a flight to Spain a plane crashed in Madrid, killing most of the passengers. It is safe to fly, repeat, it is safe to fly, it is safe to fly, it is safe to fly…
• General Musharraf (no longer a General) resigned as President of Pakistan, causing a political vacuum that several dubious figures are furiously trying to fill.
• Just in the last few days Russia officially recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign, leading to condemnation of the seven other G8 countries. Recently the news have been filled with Cold-War like rhetoric. Strong are the words coming from NATO, particularly from the US and Great Britain. However, they appear futile as Russia does not seem to be in the mood to listen.

UPDATE: I am now also twittering, as Hugh pointed out in the comments.

Good Night.

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… and talking crap again.

Middle East peace envoy (don’t make me laugh) Tony Blair has cropped up from among the rubble of his reputation again to give the ruins of what he once stood for another kick with his left foot.

Speaking on the Protection of the Environment in front of a G8 preparatory group he said:

“The UN and the UN alone is the right forum to reach the global agreement”

There was once already such an agreement, it was called after the city it was signed in, and no, there are no extra points for guessing it’s name. It even appears to be working within the EU, and would probably have been working globally, too, until the US refused to cooperate.

As long as the largest polluters (not only per capita, but also in real terms) don’t commit themselves to sign up to whatever result is being agreed upon, any UN Treaty on Environmental Protection is doomed from the start. As long as the US refuses to step up to it’s responsibilities, the EU and its partners are the only bodies that have a reasonable chance of preserving our beautiful planet for generations to come.

Until then former Prime Ministers would do well to concentrate their efforts and influence in areas they have not previously bombed and invaded or that have a somewhat real chance of success. Suitable focus might be put on improving relations between the UK and the EU and strengthening the mutual respect and cooperation and solidarity that has made the EU great and the UK prosperous.

Considering recent developments in the currency markets might also suggest that this is a time of near maximum coherence between the Euro and the Pound. You know what I am getting at, but that is for another article, as this one is too long already.

Oh, I almost forgot. Happy St. Patricks Day everybody. See you in the pub.

Technorati Tags: britain, currencies, environment, eu, euro, europe, invasion, kyoty, politics, pound, prime minister, pub, st patricks day, tony blair, uk, un, us

I have to hand it to Hugh’s Space, for once he has found something about the EU before I did.

EU Tube is a YouTube channel by the European Commission about all things EU. It is not only entertaining, you might actually learn something.

Technorati Tags: Commission, eu, europe, friends, hugh, youtube